Methodological and epistemological reflections on elite interviews and the study of Israel’s intelligence history: interview with Efraim Halevy

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent years, the literature on elite interviews has been receiving growing attention from scholars across diverse fields, especially those of intelligence and national security. However, this debate has mostly concentrated on the intelligence history of the ‘Five Eyes’ alliance, while neglecting the Middle East. Using Israel as a case study, this article explores the factors underpinning this lacuna. I argue that there is an acute need to apply a constructivist approach (as understood in international relations theory), with an emphasis on foreign policy analysis – i.e., a single-actor focus, which examines the experiences of individuals and their influence on decision-making processes. Elite interviews are the ideal methodological and epistemological means for this inquiry. Although they are not a silver bullet for the study of Israeli national security, elite interviews help not only to explore and situate Israel’s role in the field of global intelligence studies, but also to imbue intelligence scholarship with a sense of humanity, emotion and feeling. Crucially, this highlights the individual actors in a history that would otherwise be composed of merely impersonal processes and ‘top-down’ decision-making.